Sustainability Branding: How to Build a Green Brand

Sustainability branding is a more holistic form of green branding—it’s an attempt to solidify your company as environmentally, economically, and socially responsible. In the pursuit of broader corporate social responsibility goals, many companies turn toward more sustainable brand strategies. This helps them to both attract customers and uphold ethical core values. These sustainability efforts include retailers using more regenerative and renewable energy, and car companies seeking to reduce emissions from their vehicles. Another example is sustainable clothing brands offering wardrobe staples made from recycled, fairly traded, and environmentally conscious materials.

Enacting a reformation of values around sustainability can make sound environmental and business sense in today’s world. Business leaders see a positive environmental impact and greater consumer interest if they become sustainable brands. Many of today’s consumers want carbon-neutral products made by well-paid workers. Millennial and Generation Z customers, in particular, are passionate about climate change, economic justice, and other social causes—and they shop accordingly. As people seek to live environmentally low-impact and socially just lifestyles, sustainability initiatives make brands more attractive.

Building a sustainable brand means authentically pursuing an environmentally and socially conscious course as a company. Here are eight steps to starting down that path:

1. 1. Balance sustainability with other strengths. Sustainable products should still be quality products. If you add sustainability metrics to your overall brand management strategy, you must still strive to make the most functional and attractive products possible. Whether you sell handbags, leggings, T-shirts, or something else, consumers want durable, functional, and fashionable products that are also sustainable.
2. 2. Be transparent. Be open with your consumers about where you source your sustainable materials and how you’re matching up your green marketing with tangible business practices. For instance, an outerwear clothing brand could list online where they get all their materials to prove they are truly offering sustainable fashion.
3. 3. Collaborate with consumers. You’ll gain a competitive advantage if you seek feedback from your target audience about which social and environmental issues they care about the most. Consumers are important stakeholders in your holistic sustainability strategy, and you should know what sort of causes and practices they hope your business will adopt.
4. 4. Evaluate your entire supply chain. Many of today’s consumers are more likely to prefer a slow-fashion, certified organic denim brand with locally sourced dyes over buying from the fast-fashion industry. Do your best to make sure each vendor in your supply chain is sustainable, from the raw materials to manufacturing and distribution. For example, an electronics company could act to ensure the companies distributing their new products use trucks that produce low emissions.
5. 5. Keep your advertising honest. Your brand image should correlate to your real brand identity—false sustainable advertising (or greenwashing) is dishonest and can do real damage to your business. Consider a company that offers sustainable swimwear at the same time they’re dumping plastic bottles into landfills out in the ocean. This business practice would undercut any sustainable marketing strategy’s success.
6. 6. Swap out materials. Choose materials that are sustainable, compostable, and low-emissions over ones that are not. For example, a fashion brand might opt to use lyocell or organic cotton for their sweaters and loungewear instead of using less sustainable textiles. Find ways to verify you’re pursuing the right sort of materials for sustainable marketing. For instance, an activewear company could seek to abide by the Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS), or a computer manufacturer could aim for the environmentally conscious B Corp certification (a designation of high standards).
7. 7. Take a holistic approach. Sustainability branding focuses on environmental issues, but you should always include social and economic concerns in your company’s broader sustainability program. For example, alongside reducing your carbon footprint, ensure your products follow fair trade practices. Form a partnership with a nonprofit focused on sustainability issues to gain some guidance about ways to move forward holistically. This will make your brand positioning more authentic.
8. 8. Treat your employees well. Even if your company uses only organic materials and reaches zero waste, you need to remember sustainable practices extend to your workforce as well. Increase brand equity by paying your employees and raw material suppliers a living wage. Provide them with ideal working conditions and benefits. This shows your commitment to brand equity, economic justice, and sustainable living.

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